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Centrebus
Centrebus is a privately owned company that operate a number of services around Leicester and Leicestershire, Grantham, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, mainly in areas where Arriva has scaled down its bus operations. Centrebus also competes with Arriva on some routes in Leicester, Luton and Stevenage. It also operates services in the High Peak Borough in Northern Derbyshire and surrounding areas through its Bowers subsidiary, which was rebranded from Bowers Coaches some time after being taken over. It is one of the fastest expanding private bus operators in the United Kingdom, having gained a presence in Derbyshire, Cheshire and West Yorkshire, within 18 months . History Centrebus was founded on 13 March 2001. It was previously known as Ansty Buslines. In 2007 Centrebus acquired Bowers Coaches, a local bus and coach operator in the High Peak borough of Derbyshire. This was one of the first acquisitions outside of the core Centrebus operating area around the South of the East Midlands. Bowers was established in 1952 and was family run up until the Centrebus takeover. Bowers operate services in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire, mainly consisting of shorter local services. There was also an established coach division of the business, however this was cut back in favour of buses, changing the name to Bowers to coincide. In early 2010 buses appearing on the Bowers Macclesfield-Knutsford service were repainted to say 'Cheshire Connect operated by Centrebus' suggesting that the Bowers name could be phased out. At the beginning of 2008, Centrebus sold its St Albans operations to Uno. In May 2008, the Centrebus shareholders, headed by director Julian Peddle, formed Centrebus Holdings, which Arriva has a 40% stake in. Centrebus Holdings does not own Centrebus, and was formed to take over K-Line and Stagecoach Huddersfield. In September 2008, Centrebus took over all of Woods Coaches bus routes run within Leicester and Leicestershire. Woods also sold all of their Mercedes minibuses, Optare Solos and Dennis Darts to Centrebus. On 22 and 23 August 2009 the assets and goodwill of Trustybus, with operations in Essex and Hertfordshire, passed to Centrebus, whose name replaced that of Trustybus. On the 2nd of August 2010 Centrebus took over the operations and buses Plaxton Primos of Judges Mini Coaches in Corby, Northamptonshire. Operating routes: 16 Kettering – Raunds, 8 Corby – Kettering, 60 Welford – Northampton and 59 Market Harborough - Welford amongst a few other minor services. Operation The management team is headed by Peter Harvey, MD, ex-Arriva and co-founder. Julian Peddle and Dave Shelley joined the board during the expansion of Centrebus and it is expected that the groups growth plans will continue with this strong team at the helm. Many Centrebus managers came from Arriva's UK and European bus operations. Centrebus Group is the holding company for the main Centrebus division and the Bowers Coaches division. The company participates in the Plusbus scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together at a saving. Routes Leicester and Leicestershire Centrebus run the following services in Leicester and Leicestershire; Cheshire & Derbyshire For services in Derbyshire and Cheshire see Bowers Hertfordshire Lincolnshire West Yorkshire For services in West Yorkshire see Centrebus Holdings Essex See Centrebus Harlow or List of bus routes in Essex. Gallery File:Longcross Centrebus Plaxton Centro.jpg|A Centrebus Plaxton Centro at a bus rally in 2007. File:Northern Counties Volvo B10M.JPG|Centrebus' 827, a Volvo B10M/Northern Counties Palatine. See also *List of bus operators of the United Kingdom References External links *Centrebus website *Centrebus Southern website *Centrebus Midlands website *Centrebus Grantham website *Bowers website Category:Transport in Leicestershire Category:Bus operators in England Category:Companies based in Leicestershire simple:Centrebus Leicester